An Out of Body Experience [Closed]

It started out as a perfectly normal day in Stableton, without any slaver invasions, mafia syndicates rising up, or temporal shenanigans of any sort. Yes, for all intents and purposes, it didn’t look like it would be anything but an average day in Stableton as far as the townsponies were aware.

Of course it wouldn’t stay like that, that would be boring. No, for four ponies that day, and a griffon and zebra, things were going to take a turn for the strange.

Inside the ventilation system of the Stableton Community Center waited a filly, of unusual eyes and temperament. She had a trap set up, a snare, for a certain griffon. Why? Nopony knows, and unlikely nopony would know, as she wouldn’t be around for her trap to be sprung.

Elsewhere in Stableton, a mare, known for her unarmed skills and cooking prowess, was attempting to bathe her radhog. Not a euphemism, but an actual, pet radhog. Unfortunately for the mare, the pig decided, as it often does, to shove his master under the water and sit on her, putting her in a rather uncomfortable position.

Meanwhile, two other mares, a unicorn and a zebra, sisters in arms, where having a discussion while walking the streets of Stableton. What they were discussing was unimportant to what is to follow, as it was not a conversation they would be finishing anytime soon.

While those two chatted on, unaware of what was to come, a griffon, rather large and well known in the town because of that and his cold temperament, was silently plodding towards the Stableton Community Center, having received a note to meet somepony there for a job. Whether or not he expected the prank that would follow, was unknown, and relatively unimportant in the grand scheme of things.

And finally, a kind-hearted but clumsy pegasus was enjoying herself at the local tavern, laughing, singing, dancing, and in general having a merry time. Although it would not last.

With the players in position, the game began.

Suddenly the vision of the six individuals flashed, one of them noting that her own vision should not be doing that. It flashed again as the edges of their vision started to go black as a woozy...displaced feeling began to creep into their minds. Their vision flashed again as the encroaching blackness began to consume their sight. They stumbled around, losing their balance as their limbs went limp, and numb. The last thing they felt before everything went black, was a strange feeling...As if they were being dragged out of their own bodies.

Moments later they reawoken, finding themselves, with two exceptions, awaking in a completely different place then they passed out in. Some of them were surrounded by worried ponies who saw ‘them’ pass out, others awaking to no fanfare as there was nopony to see them.

Zestari and Mona Tones would initially suspect that nothing was wrong, besides the fact that they just past out all of a sudden. They would get up, give their thanks to the townsponies who helped them up, and wonder what the heck just happened. They wouldn’t realize what was wrong until they turned to one another, and find their own bodies staring back at them.

The rest would discover things were wrong much more quickly.

Bakewell Tart awoke in a dark, cramped, and rather cold tunnel of metal. She would find herself feeling...Weaker, much weaker than before, and somehow smaller. Examination of her hooves would reveal them to be a bright white color, contrasting with the darker metal walls, which is obviously not how her hooves should look. Not only that, the hooves themselves looked wrong, they looked too clean, none of the wear that her own hooves should have, not only that but they seemed smaller. As she gave the hooves a good, hard look over, suddenly the skin of the hooves disappeared, revealing the muscular and blood vessels below it. The skin was still there, she could tell that by the fact that her hooves weren’t burning in pain, but she was seeing...right through it...

It would not take long for realization to hit after that.

Violet Star herself suddenly found herself submerged underwater and being squished by a large pig. Her lungs already burning, she would, in a surprising, for her, burst of strength, haul the pig out of the tub and onto the bathroom floor. She then would burst out of the water, gasping for air and coughing up liquid, before realizing a few things.

One, she felt much bigger and stronger than before,

Two, she was seeing things in color,

and Three, she had beige colored fur.

It would not take long for realization to hit after that.

Jasmine found herself outside of the Stableton Community Center, groaning as a few ponies were cautiously watching her from a distance. Dizzy, and wondering why her body suddenly felt so tough and huge, the clumsy mare stumbled forward, trying to get her bearings as she fell through the Community Center’s door. As she stumbled through, she felt something catch around both her hind legs before hoisting her into the air, the mare suddenly finding herself hanging from the ceiling of the Stableton Community Center by both of her hind legs.

As she hung there uselessly, rope tied around her ankles, she would notice that her hooves were looking particularly odd that day. Specifically, they weren’t hooves anymore, they were mean, wicked looking talons. Not only that her fur was different, for one thing it was absent completely on the fore-part of her forelegs, and the parts of her legs that did have fur were black. Not only that, the texture itself was much different than what her fur usually was. Beneath the fur were bundled cords of powerful muscle that Jasmine certainly didn’t have before.

Further examination of her own body would prove that, well, she wasn’t a pony anymore. She was a griffon, a large, black, and very powerful griffon with an onyx black mask. Not only that, but a glance straight up confirmed that she was now a guy...

It would not take long for realization to hit after that.

And finally, Kestrel would find himself laying flat on his back on a table, several ponies looking at him with concerned eyes. He got up with a grunt, and quickly noticed something very, very wrong with his grunt.

It was rather high pitched, kind of squeaky, and something more fitting for a mare than a griffon...And that's when he looked down at his forelimbs and saw that instead of talons, he had hooves...And even looking even further down, at his suddenly yellow and slim torso and past that, he realized that the mare thing may have hit closer to home then he thought...

It would not take long for realization to hit after that.

Six individuals in Stableton, each with bodies not of their own. What could have caused it, and how it could be reversed, was something the six would have to find out. If they failed, the consequences should be obvious.

Mona would groan as she slowly stood back up with some assistance from a pony or two from the crowd of worried onlookers. She wasn't sure what, but something felt very, very wrong inside her head...Like something that she couldn't quite think of was missing, but something else was added...

Slowly, she would stand out, letting out little more then a mumble of thanks to the pony who helped her, before turning to look and make sure Zestari was okay. It was at this point that her eyes widened immensely, as rather then her Zebra friend, Mona found...Mona Tones. A perfect duplicate of her! Only taller, as far as she could tell from eye height. In a second, she hopped back, and tried to focus her magic to draw her gun, ready to interrogate this imposter and find out what happened to Zestari. Only for the obvious to very quickly strike her as to what was now missing, aside from her side-holster...

Mona didn't have her magic anymore...in fact, she didn't feel her horn at all! What the hay was going on here?! Well, if magic was out of the equation, she would just have to pummel the infomation out of this fake! In a flash, Mona adopted a combat pose, ready to lunge!

"Okay, whoever you are. What did you do with my fri-"

The rest of the sentence was quickly cut of by a squeaking noise that eminated from Mona's throat. That was not her voice. That was Zestari's voice. And even if Mona just heard it wrong, the emotion in her speaking quickly gave Mona the hint that something was VERY wrong!

"What...what in Equestria..."

Suddenly, it clicked. Mona slowly turned her gaze down to her hooves, only to discover them not coated in her familiar lavender fur, but someone elses. Someone elses very stripy fur.

There was very little Mona could think of to say at that point, aside from one, barely audible squeak of a word.

Bakewell Tart was not having a good day. Bath day was always a nightmarish horror in the Tart household and, though she loved Mister Snuffles to death, she often wished to be anywhere else once Snuffles decided to hold her down.

She hadn’t meant it in quite this fashion.

Bakewell gasped for air as soon as she found herself outside of water. For the first few seconds nothing hit the mare’s mind aside from how amazing air was and how so very much she enjoyed breathing it. Finally the once-full grown mare had filled her tiny little lungs with all the glorious air she required, and allowed herself a better look at her unique surroundings. Bakewell had grown up in the stable, so she was relatively used to closed in metal areas. Though, this shaft seemed stranger than most. It didn’t look quite right, but the mare couldn’t quite place why.

And then she realized that her eyes had been closed the entire time.

And then she noticed that her legs were nothing but collections of strange very un-pony-like objects with little lines going everywhere. Bakewell felt lightheaded as she started awkwardly belly-crawling through the metal tunnel. She had to get out of here. Had to find somepony to help her. She kept going until finally finding a grate. Good, a grate was good. Exits were just what she needed. Now all she had to do was push against it like so. It wasn’t working. Her limbs felt so strange and weak, almost like jelly compared to her normal might. The fact that she could see more strange bundles of tissue and organs through the shaft didn’t make her situation any easier or less terrifying.

“Help!” She squeaked in a foreign voice into the community center, focusing intensely as she tried to make sense of the information her eyes were giving the once-earth pony. “I’m stuck!”

Violet was quiet for several moments, sitting in the bathtub, just staring at her rather large and rough-looking beige hooves. There were several things wrong with his picture, besides the fact that it was in color instead of the glowy-black and white she was used to. While Violet may not have seen the color of her own hooves in awhile, or the color of anything else for that matter, she was certain that they used to be violet, not this beige. Nor were they this large or...well, rough. Violet wasn’t exactly a pony who kept herself prim and clean, but not even her own hooves were like this.

Deciding that sitting here, soaking in water probably wouldn’t help figure out just what the heck was going on, she decided to haul herself out, gingerly grabbing the side of the tub and stepping over it. As he hooves touched the floor, she slipped and fell face-first onto the floor. She groaned as she clutched her throbbing face.

“Owwie...”

At that point she probably should’ve noticed something about her own voice, but the pain was rather distracting. She fumbled around for something to grab onto with a hoof, and pulled herself up with the nearby sink. Her other hoof still clutching her face, she slowly opened her eyes to see a mirror in front of her...

And Bakewell Tart staring back.

Violet was just silent for a moment, for the first time in her life completely flabbergasted at what she was seeing. She waved a hoof in front of her face, and ‘her’ reflection followed suit. She craned her neck, the reflection craned. She narrowed her eyes, and so did the reflection. After a few more comical actions, each the reflection followed, Violet only had one thing to say.

“...What.”

That confirmed it, that was definitely in Bakewell’s voice, she’d recognize it anywhere. That just left one question...Why did she look, feel, and sound like Bakewell?

She looked down at one of her own limbs, and gave it a quick bite. While this may seem like a strange thing to do at a time like this, it did confirm two things, that this was not a dream, if the jolt of pain was any indication, and that Bakewell Tart does not taste like Bakewell Tarts. She was not sure if the latter revelation disappointed her or not.

“Don’t suppose you have an explanation for this Mr. Pig?” she asked the radhog behind her, who merely grunted in response, which Violet couldn’t help but compare to a certain griffon...

...A certain masked griffon...

“...Oh no.”

Violet looked around, before barreling for the exit. She galloped through the house she was in, and soon found herself on the streets...the streets of Stableton.

That confirmed that she was still in Stableton, and from the looks of things it was just like she left it, so it was probably still the same day, although she couldn’t be quite sure. Turning around, something in her mind clicked about the house.

“...Yeah, I’m pretty sure this is Bakewell’s house...” she muttered to herself. She had never been inside, until now anyway, but she knew she did see the mare go in there before.

Several explanations ran through her head, although if any of them were even close to the truth she wasn’t sure. Was she transformed into Bakewell and thrown into her house? Was she somehow pulled out of her own body and put into Bakewell’s? Because if it was something like that, she was fairly certain Bakewell wasn’t in here with her, and if her...’Soul’, was in something else...

...Like the now vacant body of a violet filly...

“Well, there’s one way to find out if that’s true...or not...TO THE COMMUNITY CENTER!!!”

She turned towards the direction of the community center, and started galloping at full speed down the street. If she was right, then she’d better get there fast before a certain black griffon did something...Bad to a very confused Bakewell who was likely not as good at sneaking and not being hit as she was. She wasn’t sure if Kestrel would actually do something like that...But better safe than sorry.

Kestrel much like the others, had been having a normal day until all of this had happened. All had been going well, he'd just finished up hunting for tonight's dinner before a note asking for his presence in the Community Center had pulled him away.

Thinking perhaps it was from Lightning, his new boss in a way, the griffon had decided to drop in. His armor had been left behind, alongside his weapons, he would not be needing either of them as he saw it.

He'd arrived at the building just in time to be caught in a trap so well hidden even his incredible perception could not detect it, and then black out.

And now he was waking up. At first he thought the group of ponies above him were just looking down because they'd managed to cut him loose. Kestrels hide was not often seen, and as such a chance to view that scarred painting of wounds long past was usually not passed up by the curious little pony folk. An action Kestrel didn't like very much. He grunted and sat up, body feeling a few hundred pounds lighter, and pushed one of the ponies away, with his hoof.

Wait what!?!

Looking over his body Kestrel quickly came to the conclusion that something here was wrong, very, very, very wrong. His senses were dulled to an almost disheartening level. The power he was used to feeling when he moved was all but gone. Clicking his jaw he felt he actually had teeth and not the hard, if scarred and chipped, beak he was used to. The familiar weight of his mask was missing, and his colors were all wrong. The familiar weight of what...erm made him male was also missing. A quick shake of his flanks, a flick of his tail, and glance between his legs told him that those parts were most definatly gone.

And so with all of this combined Kestrel managed to piece together the puzzle.

He was now apparently a pony, pegasi, female. He was small, delicate, and brightly colored. He'd gone from being predator, to prey.

And he was most definitely not very happy about that.

The wings on his back ruffled a bit as he growled loudly, a very un-pony like sound as he began to survey the area was in. Eyes jerking back and forth as he scanned what was around him.

His senses, while not what they used to be, were far from worthless, and he could in fact, still see. He appeared to be in some sort of party, the ponies from before no doubt the guests.

"Partiths over." Kestrel said stopping for a moment to blink in confusion. He had a lisp too? Who was he now? Jasmine? It would make sense, the coloration, company, and lisp all pointed to it. But that was a bit much to think about right now.

Much to the chagrin of everypony present Kestrel quickly moving towards the nearest exit, body awkwardly shifting as Kestrel tried to re-acclimate to something so frail and...short. His new perspective on the world really was jarring, everything seemed so much larger and closer to his face.

You see Kestrel, being the size that he was, no used to be, was used to having to stare down at everything and everyone he met. But this mare, whoever she was, was just so...small.

Once outside he'd try and find out where he was. He knew this town like the back of his hand, well hoof, and if he could figure out where he was he could get moving towards the the one place he needed to visit the most at a startling pace.

One minute, Zestari was chatting with Mona as they made their way towards Dang Fine Guns & Tools, the store run by Old Spur Legs; the next, a savage vertigo and nausea swept across the mare and as she toppled over onto the ground, as the world went dark around her, she could sense a disconcerting tugging, as though her mind was been sucked out of her head through a straw.

Awakening, and accepting the help of some concerned ponies, she stood up and looked at who she expected was Mona. Looking back at her was a zebra, one with a familiar shade of magenta eyes and a mane cut done in exactly in the same style as she liked.

A wave of confusion slowly bubbled its way across her mind, there was no mirror. How was she looking at herself, then? Was she cloned or something? The sensation she had felt before passing out returned. Looking down to see a lavender-coloured hoof, she was struck with realisation.

"Okay, whoever you are. What did you do with my fri-"

Blinking at the comment, she looked back at Mona – Zestari, whoever - she drew a quick breath. “Oh no,” she said softly in a smooth voice that was most definitely not her own, and she began to panic.

Or not.

She had started to panic, but the torrent of emotion was muted as though a fog clouded the very panic her mind was telling her to feel.

The sensation confused her, or at least she thought it did.

So instead of saying anything clever or insightful, instead of panicking or making a scene, she sat there, slightly wide-eyed, with an ever so slightly creased brow. “What’s going on?”

Jasmine had been looking forward to today's events the entire twenty minutes before she made plans. Armed with an arsenal of various party favors she headed out to the local tavern to give all the Stabletonians a good day. Nothing makes the wastes a better place like a good party!

The tavern doors burst open as the pegasus flew in carrying a large box of decorations and party favors. At first the patrons shot her a few awkward glances, but Jas didn't let that stop her as she tried to spread good cheer to her neighbors. This party was about more than just having fun, it was about making the wastes a better place.

As the impromptu party went on, eventually Jasmine began to serenade the customers with upbeat songs hoping to make a few smiles. She donned her Nightmare Night mask and hopped up on the bar counter bouncing around singing songs for most of the morning.

"Ok ponie'th! Time for another Jazzy origional!" Jas tried to give eye contact to all in the tavern, most of them just didn't really care or were utterly confused by her presence. She took in a deep breath as she started up background music on her pip buck to acompany her singing and dancing.

"Ohhhh buzz buzz buzz -hey! I'm a little Bee! Flying around jutht ath cute ath I can be! I thpend every hour hopping flower to flower makeing up thome thweet honey!" Jas hopped and hovered to the beat, letting the bouncy tune control her movements.

"I fly all year round going town to town, thometimeth it can be quite thtrething. And thometimeth I find when I need to unwind, nothing helpth like thelf-poninating!" Suddenly Jas' vision went black and she dropped limp to the floor.

When she awoke, her senses were quite disorienting. Her body felt so heavy and slow, but she shrugged that off as part of her nausea. She stumbled into the community center as she tried to get her bearings when suddenly her body was hoisted into the air by a snare trap as she let out a squawk of surprise.

Jas opened her eyes wide, her breath was quickened as her heart tried to beat out of her chest. She looked around at the upside down world noticing immediately her talons. She furrowed her brow and looked between both of her mighty claws. Her eyes widened as her beak opened wide, letting out a scream of terror. Her gaze focused on one claw eventually switching to the other as she moved her digits independently.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" Her voice sounded lower and gruff, but still somehow managed to hit a near-falsetto vocal range. She struggled in her trap flapping her wings madly trying to make sense of exactly what was happening. "SOMEPONY HELP ME!" Jasmine began sobbing, too shocked to noticed that she no longer had a speech impediment.

"It's ok Jazzy... You're just insane. You finally snapped after you left the stable, both of us knew this day would come." Jas steadied her breathing trying to take control of her panic. Tears were trailing their way out down the front of her face as her eyes darted around.

When she managed to get a hold of herself, she decided to try and get out of the trap after examining her surroundings. Her eyes followed their way up her tank she'd have to call a body. Soon her eyes met another problem she'd have to deal with. Upon realizing exactly what she saw she averted her eyes immediately, her face flushed a deep red. "I'm a...I have a...AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"

Jasmine flapped her mighty wings and flailed as she hung upside down. "SOMEPONY GET ME OUT OF HERE PLEASE!!! HELLLLLPPPPP"

As the displaced Kestrel and the equally displaced Violet both made their way to the community center, they both heard a shrill cry from a very familiar voice.

Kestrel’s.

The cry was very much unlike anything one would expect from Kestrel’s beak, although it was still recognizable by the two, Kestrel due to his own familiarity with his own voice, and Violet due to her own sizable intellect, although it took her a bit longer to realize then Kestrel did regardless. Both would double their efforts to reach the center.

By coincidence they both arrived at the same time, both of them reaching the door of the center just as Jasmine began screaming over the revelation of possessing certain parts of the male anatomy.

Bakewell would notice the two arriving as well, although due to her own issues with her newfound magic-based sight all she saw were more bundles of muscle and blood vessels.

Meanwhile, Mona Tones and Zestari would hear the scream as well, although it was much, much fainter for them. And at the moment they had bigger issues to worry about then somepony screaming.

Kestrel had just managed to orient himself and make it about half-way to the Community center when he heard it. That familiar screech, the screech he himself hadn't made in a dozen or so years at least if not more.

His screech.

Picking up the pace Kestrel put this new body to the test, it proved swift, despite lacking muscle mass and power. He arrived at the building within what felt like moments. Kestrel, with his...er her new lack of perception did not even notice the other pony there as he rushed in to see his body, powerful and panicking, hanging from the ceiling.

Oh now that was just...no. Whoever was in his body, was just...no.

"Calm down. Now." Kestrel ordered, her voice squeaky and feminine. Far less intimidating than it should have been. somehow, it was just as cold however.

Violet’s ears pricked as she heard the screech. While Bakewell’s body wasn’t as...perceptive, as her own, sight notwithstanding, she was still able to pick out a few things from the screech, mainly direction, towards the community center, and the fact that it sounded avian.

“That’s weird...That sounded like a griffon...Could it be...Nah.” she disregarded the possibility that it was Kestrel’s voice, even though it did sound a bit like him. There’s no way the griffon would ever make a screech like that.

Regardless, if it was anywhere near the community center, then it might be related anyhow, so she doubled her speeds, accidently barrelling through several ponies on her course to the center.

When she arrived, she noticed another pony also heading right towards the center, Jasmine. Except...Something was different about the mare, the way she walked, her posture, temperament, and her expression, it was nothing like what she usually saw on the mare, she was not smiling.

She also didn’t notice her as she went straight for the door, before stopping at the sight of something inside. Violet followed, and what she saw possibly shocked her even more then waking up in Bakewell’s body.

Kestrel, flailing around, hanging from the ceiling and squawking like a bird.

Violet just couldn’t control herself at the sight. Forgetting her own problem, and not noticing Jasmine’s command to Kestrel, she burst into laughter, falling onto her back as she clutched her shaking chest, tears streaming from her eyes at the sheer hilariousness of the situation.

“Oh...Oh this is too much...How did you...Hah! I can’t believe you fell into that Kestrel, I’d thought you’d at least get past the first few traps! Ahahahaha!”

She rolled on the ground for at least a few more moments before she finally calmed down. She wiped the tears from her eyes as she stood back up, still chuckling as she turned towards the two.

“Oh...That was gold. Where’s that pony from the stable when you need him, the one with the camera, Shutter or something like that? Ah whatever.” she waved it off, before glancing towards Jasmine. “Oh hey Jassy! What are you doing here? Come to see Mr. Kestrel get all tied up too?...And why do you look so...” she stopped as she remembered her own situation, why she came here. She looked between the griffon and the pegasus, her mind noting that both were not acting like they usually did, at all. In fact, it was almost like they were...

Switched around...

“...What.” she simply said as realization hit, for the second time that day.

Without a word, Mona would flop back onto her end, as she reached her hooves up to her head. This entire concept was quickly giving her a headache as it sank in, and part of her was hoping if she just held onto her head with her hooves, it would calm down. After a moment though, she would acknoledge her dopplegangers question.

However, the second Mona finished that sentence, she heard a scream off in the distance. And while she wasn't sure where it came from, she did recognize the voice. And she knew that if Kestrel, the same merc that had helped lead them through Harmony, was screaming like that, then something really, really bad was going down!

"Oh crap...Look, we'll have to figure this out later. If Kes is screaming like that? In fear? Then nothing short of a massacre could be happening!"

Still in a state of disbelief, Zestari keep shifting her eyes from the zebra in front of her and then to the slender lavender hooves attached to what currently felt like her own soldiers. The odd fog seemed to squelch anything more than mild disbelief, despite her mind trying to tell her that this was most definitely wrong.

“Yes, I am Zestari, she answered levelly, “And I’m guessing that you are Mona. Or at least her mind.” Her head tilted slightly, her eyes drawn towards the tapered protrusion extending from her forehead. Before she could investigate further, her eyes were drawn back to her’s - Mona’s – The zebra’s (this was going to get confusing) as a scream echoed off down the way. It sounded like Kestrel and a nagging that she should hurry to investigate, because it was really, really bad if he screamed, sprung up before it was swallowed up again. This somehow exasperated another small part of her.

Zestari nodded at Mona’s newly striped face. “That is a good point; we should hurry and find out what is wrong. Kestrel just doesn’t make that sort of noise.” She stood up, wobbling slightly on legs that felt too long and unfamiliar. “As long as neither of us are in pain, we can determine a solution to this later.”

Jasmine panicked as she hanged upside down, her struggling caused her body to sway slightly from side to side like a pendulum. She began to hyperventilate while half laughing and crying. The noise she made sounded like a strange clucking noise. At this point Jasmine was completely hysterical.

"This isn't scientifically possible! This has to be a dream I...I ...I want Starryyyyyy" Jas sobbed to herself, stopping only right as Kes and Violet entered the room.

In response to hearing her own voice he head jerked back in shock to see the body of Bakewell Tart laughing and rolling around on her back, standing next to Bake was herself. Well, at least a pony that looked remarkably like her. Jas' eyes widened in horror at the sight of her own body. "AGH!" She covered her eyes, completely unaccustomed to the fine senses. Everything looked so clear, she could hear and smell what seemed like everything. She hated it!

"Th-theres a me. I'm down there! Whats, WHAT'S GOING ON!?

The combination of the blood rushing to her head, her racing heart, and her rushed breathing began to take a toll on the poor mare. She began to feel herself possibly begin to pass out, unsure of how to react to everything. In response to hearing Violet say her name, Jasmine hopped into the conversation immediately.

Bakewell’s situation only grew more and more confusing as events went by. She could see absolutely everything, but at the same time she would have been just as well off, if not better off, had she been completely blind to the skittering masses of organs and vessels beneath her. When Kestrel began his scream, the now-unicorn filly cringed back into the vent, the quickness of her action serving to get her jammed into the tight corridor. The filly’s heartbeat accelerated as she tried to free herself. She might have been born in a stable, but even this little unicorn had her limits in respect to tight fits, and being stuck and unable to move behind bars was definitely pushing said limits. She didn’t dare start crying out for help again, though. What little time Bakewell had spent with Kestrel had given her the impression that he was a cold, hard, down to the point, and emotionless. Anything to make the big black griffon scream for help so loudly was not something the little pastry chef wanted to notice her.

Violet's unique sight quickly compounded with the once earth pony's growing stress. Where was she? What had her kidnappers done to her? What were they going to come back and do? Why Bakewell of all ponies? She was good! She had been trying and trying and she wasn’t a mean bully anymore! Why did these disturbing horrible ghosts capture and haunt her? She wanted to cry, but was too terrified to let liquid escape. For all the terrified amre knew, her tears might be radioactive laser bacon beams that would nuke her as she cried. That definitely sounded like something these sadistic monsters would do, right. They had already driven a broomstick through her skull, after all.

Needless to say, the mare failed to recognize her own body rolling around beneath her, though the laugh coming from wingless pony-thing seemed familiar, and very, very punchable. Once Kestrel said her name, the voice’s familiarity finally hit.

“Kestrel! I didn’t say anything! Don’t trust her!” She squeaked from on high, finally regaining the courage to speak. Kes could break her out of here. They could escape together! It was her only chance. “It’s a fake! They’ve locked me in the vents, help! I think they took my eyes!”

Kestrel stared at himself as he panicked, his new, weaker vision focusing on his form. He had to say he was not exactly...comforting to stare at right now. A massive griffon...with talons...hanging from the ceiling.

"Cuth the ropth" Kestrel lisped. "Uthe your talonth."

After he'd said that he'd heard something from the vents, and behind him was Bakewell...or was it. All of this was just so confusing. What Kestrel did know was this. Up on a rope was his body, and his guess about all of this was currently in Jasmines body if Bakewell who wasn't Bakewell was right.

Violet blinked as Kestrel responded instead of Jasmine, the griffon answering in a very non-Kestrel-like way. And if that didn’t confirm it, Jasmine’s cold order to Kestrel to cut down the rope with his talons did. She wasn’t the only one a bit displaced.

And that’s when a very familiar voice call out from above, calling her a fake and accusing her of stealing her eyes. That confirmed her earlier theory.

Looking around at the grates in the area, Violet spotted the one with a faint silver glow. She turned towards Jasmine...or would that technically be Kestrel...The yellow pegasus. “Um...You deal with, erm, him. I have to go find something...”

Violet looked around and found a table in the corner of the center. Remembering that she didn’t have magic at the moment, she dragged it over with her hooves (which was unsurprisingly easy with Bakewell’s body) towards the grate, and began climbing up onto it. Balancing against the wall, she stood on her hind legs until she was head-level with the grate, luckily Bakewell’s body wasn’t particularly clumsy.

“Hey Bakey!” she called into the vent, she suspected the mare-turned-filly would off fled backwards at her own approach, judging by the fear that was in her voice before, so she probably wouldn’t be anywhere by the grate right now. “It’s me, Violet! I think! Sort of, kind of...Anyway, come on out! I promise I won’t eat your brains or something, that would be kind of silly...Plus I don’t think brains are very appetizing anyway.”

Bakewell shuddered as she saw one of the larger horse-ghosts start climbing up to her. This was it, she was finished! All the purple pony could hope for now was a quick and painless demise. The filly tried to jerk back, but all she managed to do was get herself even more stuck by her sudden violent movements. She found herself unable to do anything but stare back through the grate with bright silver eyes as the form came right to the bars of her makeshift cage.

And started… talking?

“Violet?” Bakewell asked, carefully. “Violet’s not nearly that large, and she doesn’t sound at all like me! You! Uh…” She trailed off as her brain caught up with her words. Bakewell’s- that is, the real Bakewell’s- voice did sound a lot like the small purple fillies, and while Bake didn’t know the exact details concerning Violet’s Taint sight, she did know that it could see organs and see through walls and flesh. What if the object she had so far assumed to be impaling her skull was actually a horn? Combine that train of logic with the filly’s strange unhealthy love of ventilation shafts and… oh, Celestia.

“Nevermind. I believe you. Totally! One hundred percent!” the purple filly insisted a bit too forcefully. “Can you get the grate off? I’m not strong enough, and I’ve gotten myself stuck. Also how do I turn off your, that is how do I make, uh.” Bakewell wasn’t sure how to place the question. When Violet had first told Bake about her abnormal sight, it had sounded personal. Something not for the ears of anypony in the community center, she had to word it vaguely

Violet glanced down at Jasmine and Kestrel, the two seemed to be more concerned with themselves at the moment then her and Bakewell, so if she was quiet enough they probably wouldn’t hear.

“Alright, just...” the gears in her mind turned as she tried to figure out a way to describe what to do, over the years the process of controlling her eyes had just become natural. “Try to focus less, stop concentrating on what you’re seeing, relax your eyes. That should turn down the flow of magic enough so that you stop seeing through stuff, although no matter what you’ll be able to see through your eyelids, just a warning if you ever tried to close your-mine-whatever’s eyes for some reason.” she explained.

“As for the grate...Usually I’d just unscrew it with my magic, but that’s not really an option right now...” she patted her hornless forehead for emphasis. “And I don’t think I could give you a crash-course in telekinesis under these conditions...” She looked down at her-technically Bakewell’s-hooves. She knew Bakewell was a rather strong pony, just from her muscular structure. Not to mention that on at least a few occasions she witnessed the strength first-hoof. She looked back up at the grate, it was only secured with four bolts, and they weren’t even heavy duty. She should be able to pry it open after denting it enough to get a hoofhold...

“I have an idea, stay where you are Bakewell.” she told the mare-turned-filly, before taking a step back on the table, keeping one hoof on the wall to keep her balance. Pulling back her other hoof, she may not be an unarmed expert like Bakewell but she knew the basics of punching something, she threw it forward and slammed it into the grate, the metal bulking under the force of the blow. She repeated until the sides began to peel outward as the center of the grate became more and more deformed, her the grate banging with each blow of her hoof. Grinning, she gripped the side of the grate with both hooves and pulled, the metal bulking even more as Violet used Bakewell’s considerable strength to her advantage, even pushing against the wall with one of her rear hooves. The bolts starting to be pulled out of their housings...

And that’s when Violet’s rather simple plan fell apart. The bolts came out all at once, in an instant the grating coming free, and with Violet still pulling on it with all of Bakewell’s might...

Suffice to say, Violet fell backwards off the table with a “Eeep!”, landing a good few feet away head-first, much like she did in the bathroom only in reverse, the back of her head instead of the front of her face.

“Owwie...” moaned the mare. “Why do I keep hitting Bakewell’s head with things...”

Jasmine flapped her wings and tried flying in random directions. The ropes from the traps dug into her ankles, causing her to flinch and stop flying from the pain. She came to a rest swaying gently side to side from the rope. She looked down to notice a yellow pegasus staring at her in what appeared to be an un-amused fashion. But despite her facial expression and her tone, she was quite helpful and cute to boot! Well, for an evil clone and all.

Jas' breath was rapidly paced as the order finally sunk in. She nodded her head slowly and curled her body around to her feet and tried to saw the ropes with her claws. She wasn't particularly used to using them so it felt rather awkward having to use such a complex sort of hoof.

She scraped the claws down the cord of rope and eventually began to gnaw at it with her strange new mouth. She pulled and heaved and was without warning released by the rope sending her plummiting to the floor. Her finer reflexes caused her to react quicker, however as she was still disoriented she only partially saved herself from the short fall.

Her eyes slowly panned up to meet the image of what looked like herself. She crouched down as she began to cower, unable to comprehend what exactly was going on. Her body trembled as her wide eyes stared at the orange and yellow pony.

"Whats going on?! Please don't hurt me, I- I wouldn't hurt anyone! Do you like songs?! I can sing if you like. I'm a scientist! What ever criminal organization you're a part of will benefit from me alive far more than if I were dead!"

Jas shot a few glances toward her flank as she began to inch backwards, keeping a weary eye on the pony before her.

"Shut up and stop panicking." Kestrel said coldly, his mind trying to process just what the hell was going on. Apparently, someone else was in HIS body. And right now they were acting just like a...well pony.

"Your name. Whats your name?" Kestrel asked all of a sudden, pointing a hoof at Jasmine. Then turning around and facing the other one in the group. "You as well. Everyone state your name."

Bakewell forced her breathing to still and tried to release her focus. At first it didn’t seem to be doing anything and the mare was slightly worried she would be forced to identify everybody by their insides for the rest of her life, but as her mind wandered off on the idea of what living life in such a way would be, her eyes became unfocussed and her sight became, well, not normal. Normal wouldn’t touch this with a ten foot pole. At least she could see skin, even if the colors were all wonky and white.

As her concentration returned, so did the magic x-ray vision. This time she knew what to do, however, and managed to return her sight to its slightly less horrifying version of her own will. Bakewell watched herself inexpertly punch the grate off, putting too much muscle into it and sending the unicorn residing in the beige body ground ward. “Careful!” She called. “Don’t use all your strength! I think I'm quite a bit more muscular than you.”

The purple pony had managed to unstick herself from the shaft, and was currently hanging by her forehooves, back legs kicking slightly as she tried to look for a good place to drop down. “Bakewell Tart.” She answered dutifully when Jasmine demanded a name from everypony.

Violet groaned. "Now you tell me..." she said to Bakewell from her spot on the ground. She got up on her haunches and started rubbing her head, glad that it didn't crack it from the fall, and rather surprised too. She refrained from making any 'Thick Head' comments.

"Violet Star." Violet answered Kestrel-Jasmine without even looking, stumbling a bit as she got up. She suspected she may have a concussion. Shaking some of the dizziness away, she looked and saw Bakewell struggling to get down with her small body, not knowing that Violet could usually land safely from that height actually...Although Bakewell probably didn't have a lot of Violet's skill in that regard.

"Here, let me help." she said to Bakewell as she walked over, most of the shakiness from before gone. Bakewell's body seemed to recover quickly. She grabbed the filly by the shoulders before lifting her up and setting her on the ground.

As she stepped away to give Bakewell some space, she cocked her head as she got the first good look at her own body in years, mostly because the unique condition of her eyes prevented her from using mirrors and the like.

Mona would raise an eyebrow as Zestari commented fairly flatly on the situation. Was that how Mona sounded to people? Sure, she was more then used to her inability to express emotion, but she just sounded so...bored with everything.

Come to think of it, Zestari wouldn't be used to dealing with Mona's disability. That inability to express emotion must have been driving her mad! Though on Mona's side, she wasn't sure how she felt about her situation. Everything felt...brighter. Maybe too bright. Mona had spent her entire life living with the inability to express emotions, even if she could still feel them...but now, with this freedom? She felt like a timebomb, as she tried to keep her thoughts under control. There were so many moments when she would have loved to be able to express herself, and every single one of them felt like they could rise up at any moment. She had to try and stay in the merc attitude for now, and focused on the job at hand. That job being 'find out what had just happened to her and Zes, and find out what's happening to Kestrel'.

"Okay then, let's move. And Zes? ...Try and stay sane in there. I can't imagine what it must be like for you to...well...have to deal with being me..."

Quickly, Mona started galloping off towards where they had heard Kestrel scream, stumbling a bit at first before getting into the swing of things. Zebra limbs were strangely flexible, and it made galloping require a bit more focus then normal for Mona to not trip over.

Jas snapped her beak shut at the command of the assertive pegasus before her. The griffin's eyes wandered all the vacant spaces before her as she began to shift her weight slightly to one side. Her fore paw raised to her chest while she stared wearily at what she thought may be some sort of hallucination.

Jas stared at the strange individual that looked like her as she tilted her head, still rather spooked.

"Jasmine Beat miss..."

Jas jumped from the sudden noise the two others made, already quite twitchy from the recent events. She watched as Bakie observe the small filly and comment about something about how her old body looked. This was just making things worse for Jasmine, if that was her name anymore. As Jasmine was a few stealth bucks short of a vanishing act, she had a bit of trouble wrapping her mind around this.

"What in the hay is going on!?" Jas screeched as her feathers began to stood up on the normally calm and collected body of Kestrel.

Kestrel resisted the urge to facetal-facehoof at the person in his bodies actions. Of course it just HAD to be her. With all the information the others had provided Kestrel was managing to get an idea of what was going on.

An Idea that made no sense. But like any sane mind would recognize, even if the last remaining answer was one of the most crazy things Kestrel had ever thought of.

Somehow, someway, the ponies here had switched bodies.

Bakewell was in Violets form, Violets in Bakewells, Kestrel was in Jasmines body, and, unfortunately, Jasmine was in his; and she was currently making his form do all kinds of things it was most definitely not used too. It was just...wrong. Wrong on so many levels.